


✧･ﾟ* exquisite *･ﾟ✧

by LeaOotori



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Coitus Interruptus, Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gaius being a cockblock, Gaius being a dad, M/M, Merlin is pretty and Arthur can't look away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeaOotori/pseuds/LeaOotori
Summary: Arthur didn’t break eye contact for a moment, watching the glowing gold of Merlin’s eyes intently. He leaned impossibly closer, lips hovering over Merlin’s.“Exquisite.”
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 459





	✧･ﾟ* exquisite *･ﾟ✧

**Author's Note:**

> This fic wasn't meant to happen... I actually had an idea for a different one-shot and I realized I had to scrap the beginning, so it became this... I hope you guys enjoy it though, even if it's a little too sappy and out of character! :)

“Merlin, what in the  _ Gods’  _ name are you up to now?” Arthur tried to peer over the warlock’s shoulder, eyeing the strange potion he was mixing suspiciously. 

“Don’t you have better things to do than hovering over me,  _ your highness _ ?” Merlin asked, wiping the dripping beaker with a already-slimy rag before setting it above a lit candle. 

“I just want to make sure you’re not going to blow up the castle,” the King shrugged as his lover frantically searched through rows of tiny vials for who-knows-what. 

“Well, guess what,” Merlin sighed. “The more you get in my way, the more likely it is your beloved castle will meet its end.”

Arthur rolled eyes. “ _ Our  _ castle,  _ Mer _ lin,” he said cheekily before getting up off of the rickety stool he’d been perched on for the past half hour. “And fine, witch-doctor. If you’re so adamant about it, then I’ll go.” 

Merlin fought not to blush at the comment about the castle, instead busying himself with measuring the right amount of lizard tongue. “If you’ll shut up, then you can stay,” he mumbled, trying to sound stern when he said it, though he utterly failed in that endeavor. 

“Ordering your King around, are you, Court Sorcerer?” Arthur grinned, tone holding no venom as he settled onto another stool across from where Merlin was working, elbows resting on the table. He stayed quiet, like he'd been told to do, but his silence was deafening, making the hissing of the potion above the flame the loudest noise in the room. 

Merlin looked up at Arthur, only to catch him looking away. “Stop staring at me.” 

“Don’t be so vain, Merlin. I wasn’t staring.” 

“Yes you were!” 

“Stop fantasizing."

Merlin sniffed indignantly, returning to assiduously adding crushed anise to the vial, using his magic to make the fire  _ just  _ hot enough to make the mixture melt into a sludgy blue solution. In the corner of his eye, he saw Arthur looking  _ again _ . “Stop distracting me!” 

“I’m not! I haven’t said a word!” 

“You don’t  _ need  _ to!” Merlin crossed his arms, staring down the King. “You’re just-- you keep  _ looking  _ at me, and I can’t concentrate! Don’t you have better things to do?” 

“I’m sorry the direction of my  _ eyes  _ irritates you, Merlin!” Arthur sighed, crossing his arms as well. “And for the Gods’ sake, am I not even allowed to spend some time with you once in a while?” 

The words made Merlin’s annoyance soften. He fought not to smile, instead fiddling with the array of corks spilled across the mess of a desk. “We have the worst luck, don’t we? The one day off you have, the whole kingdom has to come down with the cold.” 

Arthur shrugged. “It’s part of the job, I suppose.” 

“Don’t you wish you weren’t royalty sometimes?” Merlin looked up, searching the blonde’s eyes earnestly. “That I wasn’t Court Sorcerer, or Emrys?" The flickering light from the fireplace cast shadows over Arthur's face, making him look like a figure straight out of legend. "That we were just… Arthur and Merlin?” 

“I used to,” Arthur conceded, getting off of the stool and walking around the table over to his lover. “But this--  _ we  _ would have never happened if it wasn’t for the circumstances, right?” 

“You don’t know that,” the sorcerer argued back as the space between the two closed, leaving them standing mere inches apart. “Maybe you would have been a boy from the nearby village, and we would have herding sheep together at the Essetir market and met--” 

“ _ Maybe _ ,” Arthur stressed, reaching down to grab one of Merlin’s hands, cradling it in his own. His fingers were covered with a warrior’s callouses, Merlin’s with a servant’s. “I’m not willing to take a chance on us being fellow sheep herders. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.” He pulled Merlin’s hand to his mouth, pressing a chaste kiss to it. “I wouldn’t trade  _ you  _ for anything.” 

Merlin stared at him, blue eyes meeting blue. “You’re being rather sappy, aren’t you?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper as he looked away. 

“Don’t get used to it.” 

Shuffling his feet, the sorcerer looked up to see Arthur staring at him intently, expression intense and unmoving. “You’re doing it again,” Merlin said. 

“I can’t help it,” the King said, finally admitting to it. 

“You can’t  _ help  _ staring at me while I squish around reptile guts in a glass?” Merlin laughed, smile splitting his face. 

“You look so cute when you’re concentrating,” the blonde supplied simply. “And you know I love the way your eyes change. When you do magic.” 

“For someone who executed sorcerers, you have a really ironic fetish for magic,” Merlin quipped, trying to hide how flustered he was at the words. 

“It’s not a fetish!” Arthur sputtered, looking quite offended. “It’s not my fault.  _ Anyone  _ would find golden eyes to be beautiful to look upon.” Merlin swallowed as Arthur moved in close enough that he could feel their breaths mingling like a warm cloud. The hands that had been clutching his fell away as one went to hold his face, the other sneaking up his arm. Merlin let his eyes flutter shut as Arthur angled his face, loving the feeling of stabilizing warmth holding him up. “Merlin,” the King whispered, voice so raspy and quiet that he barely heard it. 

“Hmm?” 

“Do some magic for me.” 

Merlin swallowed heavily, opening his eyes to meet his lover’s. Without looking away, he reached out, hands curling into the thick fabric of Arthur’s tunic. He didn’t utter a single word, but instead, just let the magic flow through him like water, snaking out of the tips of his fingers to float into the air around the two of them, creating glittering streams of light. 

Even with the spectacular light show surrounding them, Arthur didn’t break eye contact for a moment, watching the glowing gold of Merlin’s eyes intently. He leaned impossibly closer, lips hovering over Merlin’s. “ _ Exquisite _ .” 

With that, the King hauled Merlin onto the work desk with little regard for whatever was stacked upon it, sending a stack of books crashing to the floor. Merlin knew that deep down, he was supposed to care, but in the moment, he couldn’t bring himself to. 

The kiss was soft and warm and sweet, but Merlin’s intentions were anything but. His nails raked at Arthur’s back through his shirt, trying to pull him close enough that there was no space left between them. One of Arthur’s hands slipped up the back of his robes, finding a home on his waist, while the other raked through his hair. “ _ Arthur,”  _ Merlin mumbled between kisses, filled with an inexplicably overwhelming feeling as he realized at once how much he loved this stubborn, arrogant prat. “ _ I love you, Arthur, I love you. _ ” 

Merlin should’ve known all of this had been too good to be true. After all, he wasn’t allowed to be happy, was he? For as soon as those words left his mouth, the door to the physician’s chambers opened with a loud bang, the hinges creaking tortuously loud as it bounced off the wall. 

“ _ MERLIN! _ ” 

Arthur sprung away from him, pulling Merlin off of the table as he patted himself down. “Gaius, you’re back!” 

“Yes, I am,” the old man said, disapproving eyebrow raised. “Just in time to see you two desecrating my chambers!” 

“ _ Desecrating,  _ that’s a strong word, Gaius,” Merlin laughed nervously, pulling his robes down as far as he could. “It was more just… taking a short break. Refreshment, really.” 

“A break,” the physician repeated incredulously. “What kind of break did I just walk in on?” 

Arthur sighed. “It was  _ going  _ to be a good shag break before we were cockbloc--” Merlin slapped a hand over the twat’s mouth before he could get any more of that sentence out, gritting his teeth. 

“It was a  _ wholesome  _ break to help me get through the brewing of this potion, Gaius,” the sorcerer managed. 

“Right,” Gaius sighed, the amusement clear on his face. “The next time you two have a  _ wholesome  _ break, I would suggest it be somewhere more suitable. Perhaps the King’s chambers?” he made his way over to his desk, eyeing the books that had been knocked over onto the floor with disdain. 

Arthur cleared his throat, squatting down to pick them up with a stuttering, red Merlin. “You absolute  _ cabbagehead,”  _ Merlin hissed under his breath, smacking Arthur’s hand as he reorganized pages of notes that had fallen out of the books. “Can't you keep your mouth shut? Are you out of your mind?!” 

“Possibly,” the King whispered, smacking Merlin back before shoving all the books he was holding into the sorcerer’s arms. 

“You  _ prat _ \--” Merlin’s breath stilled as Arthur leaned closer, lips grazing the brunet’s ear. Merlin risked a glance away, noting with relief that down here, they were out of sight from Gaius on the other side of the room. 

_ “We’ll finish this later, alright?”  _ Arthur’s voice had a devilish undertone to it that did not go unnoticed. Caring naught for how Merlin stared at him with obvious dry-mouthed want, the blonde stood up, looking quite pleased with himself. “I’ll be leaving then, Gaius.” 

“As you wish, sire,” the old man remarked, looking like he knew far too much about what was going on between his former ward and the King. 

“Finally,” Merlin said, barely hiding his flushed face as he clambered up, dropping the books in his arms back onto the table. “Go find something else to fuss over, Royal Busybody.”

Gaius had gone back to ignoring the sappy lovebirds (or, at least, he was trying to) while going through a tedious-looking pile of books. Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin, making his way across the chambers to yank the door open. “Gaius, make sure my idiot comes back in one piece.”

The physician simply raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. “Your idiot is in safe hands, sire.”

Merlin sputtered indignantly, but went ignored as Arthur grinned toothily and waltzed off before he could be the victim of a hex. “Arrogant prat,” he mumbled under his breath, but he could barely hide his smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, this shit's sappy as hell. I didn't mean for it to be this OOC but it just happened... probably a result of watching the last episode a little too many times and just desperately needing some fluff with these two idiots. I hope you guys liked it though!! Please leave a kudos or a comment, I love talking to you guys! 
> 
> Thanks again for reading, 'til next time! <3


End file.
